April 10, 2020 

VIA E-MAIL PDF ONLY 

Jeremy R. Ferguson 

President, SMART Transportation Division 

24950 Country Club Boulevard 

North Olmsted, Ohio 44070 

jferguson@smart-union.org 

Dennis R. Pierce 

President, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen 

7061 East Pleasant Valley Road 

Independence, Ohio 44131 

pierce@ble-t.org 

Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Pierce: 

This letter is in reply to the two Petitions1,2 the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) received 

on March 20, 2020, from the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet, 

Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and 

Trainmen (together referred to as Petitioners), asking that FRA issue an emergency order related 

to the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency. 

Petitioners seek an emergency order “to standardize and define the best protocols across the 

[railroad] industry for mitigation of the spread of the virus and the protection of both passengers 

and employees.” Petitioners also seek to ensure railroads maintain sufficient staffing levels for 

the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. In support of the requests, Petitioners 

cite to the President’s declaration of a national emergency due to COVID-19 and FRA’s 

activation of its emergency relief docket (ERD) to provide expedited consideration of requests 

for waivers of railroad safety regulations during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The 

Petitions list a variety of safety precautions that Petitioners believe railroads should implement to 

mitigate the spread of the virus and protect employees and passengers. Those precautions 

include standardized protocols for: locomotive, coach, passenger car, and sleep car sanitation; 

common room sanitation; employee temperature observation; food and lodging for employees at 

away from home terminals; crew transportation; responding to employees and/or passengers who 

develop COVID-19 symptoms; and furlough recall. 

 

1

 https://railroads.dot.gov/about-fra/smartblet-petition-emergency-order-related-covid-19-passenger-operations. 2

 https://railroads.dot.gov/about-fra/smartblet-petition-emergency-order-related-covid-19-freight-operations. 
2 

FRA has thoroughly reviewed the Petitions and evaluated Petitioners’ recommendations in light 

of the President’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America and recommendations of the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety 

and Health Administration (OSHA). Although FRA believes that many safety precautions 

included in the Petitions could constitute best practices that should be applied in the railroad 

industry, FRA does not believe that an emergency order is justified. 

49 U.S.C. § 20104 authorizes FRA to issue an emergency order when an “unsafe condition or 

practice, or a combination of unsafe conditions and practices, causes an emergency situation 

involving a hazard of death, personal injury, or significant harm to the environment.” Although 

COVID-19 presents challenges to ensure that railroad employees and passengers are protected 

from the spread of the virus, those challenges are not unique to the railroad industry, and thus not 

the type of rail safety issue where FRA would typically exercise its emergency order authority.3

 

Therefore, on Friday, April 10, 2020, FRA published a Safety Advisory4 recommending that 

railroads develop and implement procedures and practices consistent with the President’s 

Coronavirus Guidelines for America and the recommendations and guidelines of CDC and 

OSHA related to COVID-19. 

As discussed more fully below, FRA has taken a number of other actions to mitigate the impact 

of COVID-19 on railroad employees and railroad operations. As Petitioners noted, last month, 

FRA activated its ERD in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.5 Since activation 

of the docket, FRA has utilized its emergency waiver procedures to provide limited, temporary 

relief from specific regulatory requirements to ensure railroad operations, to the extent possible, 

are carried out consistent with the CDC’s recommendations for social distancing and limiting the 

touching of common surfaces.6 For example, FRA has authorized the use of quick tie-up 

procedures whenever possible, enabling railroad employees to avoid unnecessarily entering 

railroad facilities at the end of their shifts for the sole purpose of reporting off duty in accordance 

with the hours of service requirements.7 This allows individual railroad employees to avoid 

unnecessary contact with other employees from different shifts and/or jobs in a terminal facility 

and reduces employees’ needs to work at shared computer terminals. FRA has also granted 

relief from certain training, operational testing, and locomotive engineer and conductor 

certification requirements for consistency with the CDC’s recommendations.8

 

FRA has granted railroads temporary, emergency relief from other regulatory requirements on a 

much more limited basis: on the existence of workforce shortages or other constraints directly 

 

3 See, for example, FRA Emergency Orders: 31 (Controlling Amtrak train speeds on the Northeast Corridor - 80 FR 

30534), 30 (Maximum speed in high-threat urban areas for flammable liquid trains - 80 FR 23321), 29 (Train speed 

and staffing on Metro-North - 78 FR 75442), and 28 (Securement and attendance of trains on mainline track - 78 FR 

48218). 

4

 85 FR 20335 (available at https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/safety-advisory-2020-01-safety-precautions-relatedcoronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19). 

5 See Docket No. FRA-2020-0002. 6 See Letters from Karl Alexy, FRA, Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer, to the 

Association of American Railroads, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, and the American 

Public Transportation Association (March 25 and 30, 2020), FRA-2020-0002-0025; FRA-2020-0002-0032. 

7 See id. 

8 See id.
3 

resulting from the COVID-19 public health emergency, meaning that individual railroads may 

utilize the relief only in situations where COVID-19 has caused workforce shortages (i.e., 

employees are out sick or quarantined) or where COVID-19 otherwise prevents railroads from 

complying with the regulations.9

 FRA notes that Petitioners express concern with railroads 

maintaining adequate staffing levels for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. 

Although FRA understands Petitioners’ concerns in this regard, FRA has no legal authority to do 

as Petitioners request and order railroads to recall personnel from furlough in anticipation of the 

spread of COVID-19. FRA expects railroads to ensure the safety of railroad operations and 

maintenance during this national emergency. In the event localized workforce shortages 

resulting from COVID-19 occur, FRA believes the limited, temporary relief provided to the 

industry in the ERD will allow railroads to operate safely and ensure the safety of railroad 

employees at the same time. 

Railroads are a critical infrastructure industry, and railroad employees are essential to enabling 

railroads to meet their responsibilities during times such as the current COVID-19 public health 

emergency. Accordingly, FRA stands ready to work with both railroads and railroad employees 

to ensure the continuity of railroad operations and the safety and health of railroad employees 

and the traveling public during this critical time. 

Sincerely, 

Ronald L. Batory 

Administrator 

 

9 See id.